880 DISCUSSION: FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 
Messrs, ing a partially timbered area; and the slight fluctuation of Owens 
ee River draining a practically untimbered area. 
The yearly history of the flow of these streams is as follows: The 
rainfall from the first storms of the rainy season in the autumn 
is mainly absorbed by the dry ground in the foot-hills, and causes 
very little fluctuation in the flow, while, on the higher levels, it forms 
the lower layers of the snow fields. The heavy winter and spring 
storms cause a heavy run-off from the foot-hills, with some of the 
worst floods of the year. Above about the 5000-ft. contour, all 
precivitation is retained as snow. The first warm weather of summer 
causes melting, and about half the total precipitation is discharged in 
six weeks. The middle and late summer flow comes from the per- 
petual snow fields of the high peaks, and gradually diminishes as the 
weather grows colder, until the beginning of the rainy season. There 
are a number of thunderstorms during the summer on the higher 
portions of the range, but they are not heavy enough to affect the 
general flow of the streams. The gauging station on Owens River 
being at an elevation of about 5000 ft., the winter fluctuations are not 
found at that point, as in the case of the others. 
Tables 10, 11, and 12, record the main features of the discharge 
and flow of these streams, and show many interesting conditions in the 
resulting flow from: varying drainage areas and rainfalls. 
The diagram and the tables show that Kings and Merced Rivers 
have very similar characteristics, though the drainage area of Kings 
River is nearly twice as great as that of the Merced. Kern River, in 
all its characteristics of stream flow, occupies an intermediate position 
between the two foregoing and Owens River, and the latter shows the 
least variation of all four. An examination of the diagram and 
tables shows that there is a remarkable similarity between certain 
percentages of flow from the same drainage area for different years. 
For example, on the Merced River the percentage of run-off during 
the first 10 warm days of summer was 12% of the total discharge in 
1904, 12.2% in 1905, and 11.6% in 1906, although the total depth of 
run-off for the same years was 20.25, 13.26, and 35.92 in., respectively. 
Hence this early summer run-off appears to be directly proportional 
to the depth of snowfall as well as dependent upon the superficial area 
of the snow fields. The other streams show similar regularity of 
similar percentages. These percentages may be considered to repre- 
sent the relative intensity of the floods of the different streams, and 
are practically the same for Kings and Merced Rivers, less intense 
on Kern River, and still less on Owens River, where the run-off during 
the early 10-day flood period is only 4.5% of the total flow for 3 years’ 
average. Owens River, with a greater depth of run-off than Kern 
River, has about half the intensity of flood. 
